For one lucky player, there was plenty of Christmas cheer at the conclusion of the 20-cent Pick-5 on the first of two special Thursday night programs at The Meadowlands.
That extremely shrewd bettor had the lone winning ticket on the Pick-5, and collected a handsome $28,712.22 just in time to fill his or her family’s stockings to the point of overflow.
The winning ticket paid off after the winning horses scored at odds of 6-1, 12-1, 4-5, 63-1 and 8-5.
The key winner was leg four’s Brooklyn Moonshine (pictured above), who paid $129.40 after out-gaming 1-2 favourite Hurrikanekleepatra to the wire in the fourth race.
Altus Hanover, a seven-year-old gelded son of Crazed-Audra Hall, deuce-popped at three-quarters and opened up enough real estate to hold off 1-5 favourite Milliondollardream in the featured claiming handicap trot.
After a third-place finish at The Big M two starts ago, driver Justin Huckabone did things just a bit differently this time around.
“The track was better tonight, better footing,” said Huckabone. “I got him close and I didn’t want to take any chances. I wanted to be out and rolling.”
A Peter Pellegrino trainee, Altus Hanover returned $23.40 to his backers as the 10-1 fourth choice in the wagering. He now has 19 wins from 96 lifetime starts and earnings of just over $225,000 after completing the mile in 1:57.
Tyler Miller led the driver colony with two winners while all-source handle on the 10-race card totalled $1,225,976.
Racing resumes Friday, Dec. 6 at 6:20 p.m.
(Meadowlands Racetrack)